This page will give a completely detailed profile of the selected
fish, from A to Z. The profiled fish will be chosen randomly by Badman,
and will come from the complete genre of tropical fish. New profiles
are added on a regular basis. If you would like to submit a profile
for the site please contact me. Don't forget to let us know you experiences
with this fish by filling out the

General Body Form
Typical for the Genus. Medium tall and very compressed. Grows too about
two inches.

Coloration
The top of the eye is very Red. The end and edge of the Dorsal fin is
Black. The back rays on the Anal fin are Black. The front ones are bright
Yellow. The body is transparent with a slight Yellowish tinge. A Iridescent
stripe extends laterally from the gill cover to the start of the Caudal
fin.

Maintenance
An Easily kept fish, the Lemon Tetra can be housed in almost any community
aquarium. For best show the tank should be small to medium in size and
contain from ten to fifty-five gallons of water. The water should be
clear, soft to medium in hardness and with a pH on the acidic side.
The temperature should be maintained between 72° and 79°. As with all
fish a portion of the water should be changed monthly. Feeding is no
problem as they will accept all flake food as well as any live food
you can provide. The tank should have open areas for swimming as well
as areas with dense vegetation for hiding. The Lemon tetras subtle colors
can be enhanced through the use of a dark substrate

Breeding

Lemon tetra fry, photo courtesy of Steve.

The lemon Tetra is not one of the easiest Tetras to spawn. It seems
that the females have trouble expelling the eggs and so several females
should be combined with one male to increase the chance of success.
Eggs are laid in fine leafed plants in the scattering method. The eggs
hatch in about twenty-four hours and the mortality rate is fairly high.
Once the young survive the first couple of days they prove to be very
hardy. The parents give no care and will eat the eggs and young and
so should be removed as quickly as possible after spawning.

Please remember that
the following comments are personal experiences and may or may
not apply to your setup. Use them as guide to help better understand
your fish, like us all individuals will behave differently under
different circumstances.

From: Andrew GivensDate: 10/22/2009In a little shoal
in a mixed community, lemons are beautiful, hardy and can be long-lived.
I mixed mine with Rosy tetras and the fact that the two species
regularly co-shoaled seemed to enhance their beauty still further.
Two water changes per month of 30% at a time and a pH of 7 made
them glow yellow all over. Fabulous, everyone with a community
setup should try these!
From: SamDate: 10/2/2008These are a hardy
species and can be very colorful if you take good care of them.
They are easy to spawn, a low pH and a water change usually does
the trick, but they will eat their eggs so it is best to give
them a separate breeding tank and return them to the main aquarium
after spawning.
From: Charlie Date: 1/2/2006I have 6 lemon
tetras in a 75litre tank. They live with 5 cory cats, Tank the
Hoplo catfish and ten tiger barbs. They are always charging around
with the tiger barbs. If there's a problem with the tank water,
they turn a greyish colour and barely move at all, with their
fins held tightly against their body, and will not eat. A water
change usually fixes this. When they are fed, they gorge themselves
for a minute, then will not eat any more, so best to keep some
bottom feeders or scavengers with them to eat any uneaten food.
One day one of the lemons got so excited during feeding that it
launched itself right out of the tank and smashed into the lid!
That didn't put it off its food one bit, they must be tough little
buggers!
From: Colby Date: 9/20/2004I have kept lemon
tetras for about 4 years. They seem to breed best at a temperature
of 78 degrees fh. They love live brine shrimp and freeze dried
bloodworms .I started off with 15 in a 33 gallon tank 4 years
ago and they just started to multiply so I bought a 320 gallon
and added another 15 and now I have around 150
From: BruceDate: 11/14/2001I have a school
of 6 in my twenty. Very entertaining becoming little piranha at
feeding time. Great little fish.
From: SeanDate: 04/04/2001Lemons are great
little fish. I have a group of 6 in a 20 gallon tank with other
assorted tetras. They rule the place with their little displays
and dances. I love these little fish and would recommend them
to everyone.
From: SimonDate: 05/21/2002I have a group
of three lemons in my 20 gallon along with four red-eyed tetras
and assorted corydoras. The lemons are just awesome to watch,
being much swifter and more maneuverable than the red-eyes. Their
displays and dances are quite comical. They feed well and don't
bother the other fish unduly. Highly recommended!
From: RyanDate: 09/25/2002Great community
fish have 5 in my 44. Very Active - like to school up with my
Rosy Barbs - very interesting to watch